Launch: Nokia 100/101 – single and dual-SIM phones

Introducing two new affordable handsets, with the same DNA - but different SIM options

Published by Ian Delaney on August 25, 2011

NAIROBI, Kenya – Yesterday saw the launch of some powerful new smartphones. But in many parts of the world, phones like those remain science fiction. In large parts of Africa and Asia, in particular, many face the reality of expensive data rates, the uncertainty of being able to connect to a reliable power source and low incomes. For the ‘next billion’ mobile users, a reliable, inexpensive, regular phone is a lot more relevant. That’s the reason we’re launching the Nokia 101 and Nokia 100 today.

The Nokia 101 and 100 are low-cost phones based on the Series 30 operating system. The difference between the two is that the Nokia 101 supports dual-SIM and has an MP3 player. Designed with the fact in mind that these phones are often shared between families, they can support up to five separate address books and store personalisation details for up to five different SIM cards.

The display has a grid-based system of icons – we also need the phones to be usable by people who haven’t had the opportunity to learn to read. There’s an integrated flashlight – a handy addition for most of us, but extremely valuable if you live somewhere where’s there’s only power for a few hours a day. For the same reason, the battery life is extremely good compared to what you might have learned to expect from using a smartphone. These phones can last up to 25 days on standby, or 6.7 hours talktime.

But that doesn’t mean they aren’t versatile or useful. They come with an FM radio and – on the Nokia 101 – an MP3 player with a headset included in the box. There’s also support for memory cards up to 16GB on the Nokia 101, allowing thousands of songs to be stored. In addition, there are preloaded games and a 3.5mm AV connector so owners can connect the device to better speakers, for example.

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In selected markets, these phones will also be offered with Nokia Life Tools, allowing the delivery of market information, weather forecasts, health advice, language tuition and entertainment news to an on-board app using specially created SMS messages.

The Nokia 101 and 100 go on sale from this quarter (Nokia 101) and next (Nokia 100) in selected markets. Without local taxes or operator subsidies they’ll cost around €25 for the Nokia 101 and about €20 for the Nokia 100.

Nokia 100 – Affordable Colour Display Mobile Phone

Dual-SIM Nokia 101 – Entertainment with FM Radio and MP3 Music Player

Comments

  • Chumer1

    good

    • sagarika S

       I want one for my parents. The keys of Nokia 101 look alright. But I am afraid the letters on the screen appear a bit smaller which becomes difficult for elderly people. I had earlier tried Iball aasaan for them but the keys are a bit harder and every function needs atleast 2-3 time pressing the key which is not convenient.

    • sagarika S

       I want one for my parents. The keys of Nokia 101 look alright. But I am afraid the letters on the screen appear a bit smaller which becomes difficult for elderly people. I had earlier tried Iball aasaan for them but the keys are a bit harder and every function needs atleast 2-3 time pressing the key which is not convenient.

    • sagarika S

       I want one for my parents. The keys of Nokia 101 look alright. But I am afraid the letters on the screen appear a bit smaller which becomes difficult for elderly people. I had earlier tried Iball aasaan for them but the keys are a bit harder and every function needs atleast 2-3 time pressing the key which is not convenient.

  • Chumer1

    good

  • Chumer1

    good

  • Akbarloves638@gmail.com

    nokia 100 prise

  • Surendra Sindee

    i love u

  • Surendra Sindee

    i love u

  • Surendra Sindee

    i love u

  • Surendra Sindee

    i love u

  • Surendra Sindee

    i love u

  • Surendra Sindee

    i love u

  • Surendra Sindee

    i love u

  • Surendra Sindee

    i love u

  • Surendra Sindee

    i love u

  • Surendra Sindee

    i love u

  • moe

     

    I
    have bought this phone for basic calls and messaging. The Design is the worst,
    not very sleek, looks very bulky for a phone that does nothing much, the back
    panel cover is not seated properly [when I am on call, there is this squeaky sound
    it makes when holding it, very irritating], there is no proper grip to hold the
    phone [it keeps slipping], the graphics is horrible [some Indian designer must
    have done it, because these phones are being manufactured in India nowadays],
    the sound quality of the speaker is pathetic [there is some echo heard always
    on calls, because of the bulky size and open gap caused by the back cover panel
    and speaker. It boasts of a micSD card, but without Bluetooth or GPRS or USB,
    how does one expect to transfer music files to the microSD card? What a dumb
    feature for a phone that still cannot impress anyone!

    Please
    do not go for this phone, it is one of the worst phones Nokia has ever
    designed. There are much better phones for the same price. Simple words this is
    the Worst phone……

  • Alex Hanrahan

    This is a great phone. It’s basic, but it works. Everything works. No build quality issues on mine in fact it is remarkably sturdy for such thin plastics.  Screen is basic, menus are basic – it’s a basic phone. The previous poster must be used to higher spec phones. Mine is the 101 so DUAL SIM. This feature works fine for me. If you want an mp3 player that can make calls and texts, this or the X1-01 are the phones to buy – X1-01 has a louder speaker and a larger battery, but is otherwise identical. MP3 sound quality is great for a phone – competes with dedicated mp3 players like the sansa clip+.

    You can use high quality hi-fi earphones with it – the microphone on the phone still works so it doesn’t need a dedicated headset (i love this). Keypad is good, screen is a bit blocky but i’ve had no problems viewing it. It costs twenty pounds UK which makes it an extremely cheap mobile phone. Battery life could be better for heavyish users like me, but for most people the battery should be adequate.

    You can put more songs on it by simply taking the memory card out of the slot on the phone. That’s why nokia gave us an external slot. And that’s another thing – every mp3 player phone i’ve used has slowed down or just refused to work with larger memory cards filled with music. Not so the Nokia 101. 14gb on a 16gb card and it’s still snappy.I wanted a dual sim basic phone with a really good mp3 player i can use proper headphones on. This phone is it. For me, the best phone ever made. I’d like a camera that works and an ebook reader function   but then it’d be a more expensive phone. I’d also like a phone that runs on 3 AA low self discharge rechargeable batteries but i understand that i’m probably one of only a few people in the world who want that

    • innn

      I agree this phone is for me too like a mp3 player that can call, I like it very much but I also have some unsolved yet problem with the mp3s on the memory card, could you be so kind to tell me if you’ve experienced the same with yours, that is all mp3 that I load into the card loses order and I cannot navigate them, I enjoy listening to audiobooks and audio learning support materials so it’s a pain everytime I open them.

  • Alex Hanrahan

    This is a great phone. It’s basic, but it works. Everything works. No build quality issues on mine in fact it is remarkably sturdy for such thin plastics.  Screen is basic, menus are basic – it’s a basic phone. The previous poster must be used to higher spec phones. Mine is the 101 so DUAL SIM. This feature works fine for me. If you want an mp3 player that can make calls and texts, this or the X1-01 are the phones to buy – X1-01 has a louder speaker and a larger battery, but is otherwise identical. MP3 sound quality is great for a phone – competes with dedicated mp3 players like the sansa clip+.

    You can use high quality hi-fi earphones with it – the microphone on the phone still works so it doesn’t need a dedicated headset (i love this). Keypad is good, screen is a bit blocky but i’ve had no problems viewing it. It costs twenty pounds UK which makes it an extremely cheap mobile phone. Battery life could be better for heavyish users like me, but for most people the battery should be adequate.

    You can put more songs on it by simply taking the memory card out of the slot on the phone. That’s why nokia gave us an external slot. And that’s another thing – every mp3 player phone i’ve used has slowed down or just refused to work with larger memory cards filled with music. Not so the Nokia 101. 14gb on a 16gb card and it’s still snappy.I wanted a dual sim basic phone with a really good mp3 player i can use proper headphones on. This phone is it. For me, the best phone ever made. I’d like a camera that works and an ebook reader function   but then it’d be a more expensive phone. I’d also like a phone that runs on 3 AA low self discharge rechargeable batteries but i understand that i’m probably one of only a few people in the world who want that

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